[When last we left our protaganist, she had followed a pendent to her apparent last known location on earth.] (I'm a protaganist now?) (Sweet!) (Do you see any other PCs here? :P) (Nope!) [She and Mandy just vacated their taxi and Mandy managed to get the driver to forget about them. But only after paying them.] (him) [After seeing her emerge from the car, a middle aged denizen of the area glanced over and said, "Hey Elda. Feeling better?"] [Start!] * Kahlya looks about the place, ignoring the strange old man, looking at Mandy, frowning and lowering her nearer to her level first. "I'm not even sure what we're looking for here..." * Mandy quietly replies, "Hi, move along." The middle aged guy looks at Mandy fairly oddly but shrugs and does so. [There's a nursing home to the left and a series of one and a half story houses on the right, with one larger older house at the end of the street. The pendent points there.] * Kahlya then glances the other way behind her at the old man. "What was that all about?" * Mandy shrugs. "Couldn't tell you." * Kahlya waggles her finger at Mandy. "And you've *got* to stop manipulating people like that. It's about time you learned, erm, normal manipulation techniques. Like sex appeal." * Mandy looks fairly grossed out. "He was like 50!" * Kahlya lets out her breath, annoyed and gets an indignant look on her face, hands on her hips. "Then you just have to try the charming young lady approach! Didn't they teach you *anything* in school?" My point is. You can't start relying exclusively on that scythe. We don't know what it'll do to you in the long run. And even if it's harmless, you never know when you might be without it. Alright. Fine. Bah. Don't bah me young lady. If you're going to be my apprentice, you're going to have to learn the ropes. There's other ways of manipulating people than just a deadly stare and spooooooky powers. * Kahlya wiggles her fingers at the last one. * Mandy giggles and then nods and smiles. "Of course. I'll listen carefully to your sound advice." * Kahlya turns and points. "Anyhow, looks like the pendant wants us to go there." * Mandy nods and has a proud smile. "Right." * Kahlya starts walking towards the weird house. [The house is a recently refurbished Victorian. It's painted light blue and looking through the windows has fairly run of the mill furnishing. The day's paper lies up on the porch.] * Kahlya starts to go up to the house then stops mid-step, looking at it, cupping her hand under her chin and frowning. * Mandy waits, for now. * Kahlya looks at Mandy. "I just thought...if there's someone home, what exactly do I say? "Hi! Some mysterious pendant pointed me here, so...here I am! Enlighten me!?" Didn't they teach you charm in school? * Kahlya rolls her eyes. "This isn't about charming people. This is about having a reason to be here. And..." She frowns a bit and looks at the house, then starts around the side. [There's no fence, so it's fairly easy to scope the joint. The side of the house is fairly conventional. No toys lying around or the like. There's a few garden beds in back that you can just make out. They've got low maintenance bushes. A few small weeds are sprouting up.] (Back door?) [Proceeding further back, there is in fact a back door. Give me an awareness check.] [Someone's listening to T.V. on the second floor.] [No other movement that you hear inside the house.] * Kahlya frowns and tests the door. [Luck roll.] 2d8+6 [The knob is locked, but it isn't deadbolted.] * Kahlya turns to Mandy. "What do you know about opening locks?" * Mandy walks up to the lock and concentrates, a pale outline of the scythe appears in her hand and she waves it over the lock. Try it now. * Kahlya tries the lock. [No change.] * Kahlya shakes her head. "No good. And there's someone upstairs. So can't force it..." * Mandy shrugs. "Check under the doormat? Try a potato? Window?" * Kahlya draws out her scythe and frosts the tip, touching it to the edge of the door where the lock should be. [Give me an attack roll. Feel free to make it a full attack.] [The blade encounters little resistance as the deadbolt is shorn in half.] Nice... * Kahlya snickers. "Yeah. Let's hope they don't notice" She conceals her scythe and nudges the door open quietly. [You've entered the back kitchen. There's a few grocery bags on the counter and a note on the refrigerator that says "Hope you feel better soon Elda. Sorry I missed you. I'll be back in a few days. -Edgar.] [The lower floor is a bit cluttered and hasn't been cleaned for at least a month. Nothing disgusting though. There's a few newspapers piled up by the door on the inside.] * Kahlya rubs the side of her head as she looks at the note. "Elda?" Maybe that's the owner's name. [Give me a visual awareness check.] [There's papers and other objects lying around, but nothing jumps out at you.] * Kahlya starts sifting through the grocery bags, just to look in it. [Fairly conventional. They're about half to three quarters empty. There's a medley of boxes, cans, and jars. All fairly easy to prepare stuff. Probably enough to last a week.] [Now that Kahlya thinks about it, there's no reason that the invitation thing should not have applied. However, she's inside without one. Go figure.] * Kahlya stops dead in her tracks and pales. Well, it's not noticeable because she's already pale but then she looks at Mandy. "I'm...here, aren't I?" * Mandy pokes Kahlya. Yes. But I mean...I'm not outside, and... * Kahlya looks at her hands. "Well, I'm not really sure what I transfered. So there's no guarentee that that's the case...but..." * Mandy looks quizically at Kahlya. * Kahlya looks at Mandy oddly and shrugs. "Vampires aren't supposed to enter houses. Of course, I never told him I WANTED to be a vampire. But you never know with those creepy old wizard types." * Mandy stares at Kahyla for a bit. I think you are a vampire, but, I'm can't tell if that rule applies. Well, that's why. This is the first house I really tried entering since then anyway that I wasn't expected. * Kahlya listens for the TV again. Any change? [There's the occassional rustling. Currently on the show someone's talking to a 'Lily' about 'fey.'] [Cultural arts (pop) roll.] [You don't know the program.] Odd tastes in television. But at least they haven't noticed anything yet. * Kahlya looks through the papers too and tries to do a thorough search. [Let's see. I'll take awareness, police sciences, or any other skill you can justify.] [Be sure to tell me the margin.] [Mandy keeps a lookout. She actually manages to focus and does a rather good job.] [Nothing magic down here. A few traces upstairs, but nothing powerful.] [After working through the papers, you find that the owner of this house is definitely Elda Smith. Her parents, Peter and Susan, live nearby. She recently bought this house and restored it. Otherwise, there's some bills, medical papers, work related material, nothing of great interest.] * Kahlya talks to herself reading the papers. "Huh. So who's Edgar?" [No obvious answers in the papers.] Boyfriend? Friendly neighbor? Stalker? * Kahlya looks at Mandy. "And where did you learn about stalkers?" CSI: Edinburgh. * Kahlya sighs. "The thing kids see on TV these days." She goes into the next room and has a gander. [There's a living room, bathroom, and dining room on this floor. The living room has a good view of the front lawn through the open windows.] * Kahlya takes a casual view of the area, speaking quieter in this room. "Nice house." [There's fresh paint on the walls, and a somewhat cluttered mix of furniture. Looks like sutff moved from various apartments or the better pickings of yardsales.] * Mandy nods. "Kind of ordinary though." * Kahlya looks at Mandy. "Disappointed?" Uh... I don't know. I'm just not sure what it means. Me neither. There was something upstairs though.. * Kahlya looks up the stairs. [The stairs lead up to a hallway. There's a few doors branching off. The one to the occupied television room is open.] * Kahlya heads up the stairs. Quiet as a mouse. [Give me a roll on that.] * Mandy takes a step up and a floorboard creaks loudly. She looks embarrassed and stops moving.] [Kahlya gets further up, but with creaky floorboards she's not able to manage quieter than a normal walking noise.] [The occupant of the television room is now stirring, but leaves the T.V. on.] [That was by hearing. No line of sight on the room yet.] * Kahlya winces slightly and looks back at Mandy for a moment, waiting on the stairs to see what comes up. [After a few moments a thirty-year-old woman walks out into the hallway. She's wearing khakis and a button down shirt with the top few buttons undone. She's a bit blanched and looks as if she's recovering from an illness. Aside from the sickly cast, she's also an exact duplicate of Kahlya.] * Kahlya turns to look at the woman and tilts her head curiously. "....huh." * Woman stares back at Kahlya and hyperventilates. "You..." Huh, I guess that explains the old guy. * Kahlya looks at the woman. "Yeah...I guess. Elda Smith?" Yes. Okay...now this is *really* weird. Why do you have my face? * Kahlya turns to Mandy. "That is my face, right? I haven't, like, turned into a hideous monster or anything, right?" Nope. You're you. Uh... promise you won't get mad? * Kahlya looks over at Elda. "You've got to be kidding me." She looks at her piercingly. "Why is it whenever someone says that, it's almost a guarentee that you *will* get mad?" * Elda smiles weakly. "Because that's the only time it makes sense to ask?" * Mandy stays quiet. * Kahlya grins toothily. "How about I promise that I'll get less mad if you tell me now than if I have to force it out of you a moment later?" * Elda bites her lip and speaks fairly quickly as she backs up against the doorwell. "It was twenty years ago... You seemed like you wanted to trade..." * Kahlya blinks and stares. "Trade? Wait, TRADE?" * Elda backs into the bedroom. The T.V.'s still on. There's a woman with a sword fighting some fairly lithe street people by the look of them. Initially, I didn't think it would last this long. You could have left the demon realm whenever you wanted. I figured you must have liked it there. * Mandy quietly heads up the stairs to stay with you. * Kahlya walks forward on her. "Start making sense. I've been a demon all my life. That's all I remember. That's all... Landis? Landis knows! I'll ask him!" Sure, whatever you say, you were always a demon. * Mandy snickers at that. * Kahlya pulls out her scythe with a shing and aims the blade directly at her throat, snarling but slightly grinning. "If you don't stop it with your tongue like that, I'll show just how demonic I can *really* be..." * Elda whimpers. What are you talking about a trade? We're changelings. * Mandy walks over to turn off the T.V. * Kahlya blinks and her scythe slacks in her grip a bit. "Changelings? Wait, who's "we"?" Not a race, a relationship. I took your place and you started a new life in another dimension. * Kahlya rubs her head and leans back against the wall. "I what now? You mean all this was a dream?" What? No. You came here when you were ten and went into that closet. ::She points:: * Kahlya looks over at the closet. "What? No...the first thing I remember...was...I was surrounded by a bunch of demons. So, I had to be a demon right? I mean..." She stares at the closet strangely. [Give me a sixth sense roll.] [The closet is a dimensional gate to your home. You also notice a magic book on one of the bookshelves.] * Kahlya looks over at the book and then at Elda, pointing. "Mind if I take a look?" Go right ahead. * Kahlya goes over to the book so she can look it over, flipping through it. [It's a book on ancient Wiccan practices. Looks at least a few decades old. Nothing all that interesting.] * Kahlya puts it back and looks at her again, edging towards the closet. "When I was ten, you say?" * Elda nods. "I didn't know you. They just built a house on my swamp. You were the first mystic to investigate." * Kahlya closes her eyes tight then presses her palm into her forehead, gesturing with her other hand. "Wait. First you're saying I'm not really a demon. Next I'm a mystic? What exactly am I?" You were a human. Just a mystically inclined one. Not common, but not unheard of. * Kahlya turns and looks in the closet. [Looks like a closet.] This just looks like a closet. * Kahlya scratches her head. "I...might remember something like this..." * Kahlya edges her way inside. [Soul roll] * Elda doesn't get in the way. * Mandy watches with curiosity. [The gate is weak, but Kahlya thinks she could probably push her way through if she really tried.] * Kahlya goes. No fear! [Kahlya re-appears back home. There are many demons here. They're presently eating.] * Kahlya looks around and blinks. "Well. At least what she said was accurate." She walks forward, looking around for anyone she knows. [She knows a few but nobody she's close to.] * Kahlya mmms and stretches, walking forward. "I wonder if Mandy's following." She turns and looks. [Not yet. Although the link seems to hold.] * Kahlya taps the nearest demon on the shoulder. "Hey. Where's Landis?" * Demon looks over. "Do I know you... I mean tremble in fear human!" * Kahlya rolls her eyes. "Oh, for the love of..." She whips out her scythe and points it at him. "You're not fooling anyone with that, Trandel. And I've had a long month. Now be a dear and tell me where I can find Landis, please?" She smiles sweetly at the last part. Kahlya? Huh. Master didn't like them young? * Kahlya snorts. "You wish." She frowns a little and fluffs her hair, relaxing her stance a little. "Do I really look that old?" * Trandel shrugs. "I never could tell human ages beyond the obvious. C'mon." He leads you off to a side room. "Landis is handling our end of a sacrifice. He should be done in a few." * Kahlya chuckles. "Thanks." She leans forward and pinches his cheeks. Or at least what passes for cheeks on him. "You really are a sweetheart." Right, right, no touching... You're cold. * Kahlya sighs and leans off to the side. "Comes with the undying apparently." (I'm going to have to take a short break. I need to pop something in the oven now or I'll be starved crazy.) (Sure) (I'll respond while you're away) Undying? ~Uh, what do you want me do? I think Elda's considering escape.~ * Landis walks out muttering. "What will it take to get it through their skulls that virginity is secondary at best. It's about the purity of the... Kahlya?" ~Ah...um...can you knock it out or something? Without hurting her or scarying her if you can. She *can't* get away.~ * Kahlya then puts aside her scythe behind her back and smiles sheepishly at Landis. "Um, hi Master Landis." ~No hurting her or scaring her? Uh... that makes it hard.~ She's undead-- Yes, I see that Trandel. Move along. * Trandel moves out at a hurried pace. ~Uh...as little as possible?~ ~Right then!~ * Kahlya smiles and shifts her foot, leaning forward a bit, putting her thumb and index finger really close together. "I had a teeee~nsy little problem with the last one." I see that as well. * Kahlya sighs and let a breath out. "Landis...can we talk?" Session Time: Mon Sep 25 :00 2006 * Landis gives a sad smile. The way you can tell is that there's less fangs showing than usual. "Of course." He leads you back to the room he just came from. There's a geode covered in ectoplasm glowing with an internal light. It's been put off to the side among the range of supplies that fill the room. He takes a seat and gestures for Kahlya to as well. * Kahlya sits down and crosses her legs, shifting uncomfortably and looking down on the floor a little. "Landis...I--uh...can you tell me what you remember about when you first found me?" You appeared in our midst. Your form was completely human, but you didn't act like we expected and you had no memories. The portal had been used before and even after, but there were no other cases like you. * Kahlya sighs and looks down. "So there was a portal..." Was there another one? * Landis nods. "You never seemed to want to talk about it. And to the human realm? That's the only one I know of. Now if a human was scared enough or wanted to go back badly enough, we could normally get them home. But that didn't work for you. * Kahlya shakes her head. "No... another person?" * Kahlya rubs her head. "You said I was human before....I didn't believe you...." A few. No one seemed to have anything to do with you. You were the only one who stayed. * Kahlya looks down. "Would you have sent me back? If you could find a way?" At first? Yes. * Kahlya looks back up. "Why not later?" * Landis growls. "Must you ask? You should know." * Kahlya frowns and fidgets. "Sorry. It's just all so confusing..." You were a good apprentice. There was a price for taking on a human, but you were worth it. Most of all, this was your home. Amnesia or no, you had no interest in going elsewhere. * Kahlya rubs her fingers through her hair. "All to think none of this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten confused in the first place." * Kahlya looks up, a little shocked. "W-wait, you mean that?" * Landis scowls. "I don't lie to comfort." * Kahlya looks back down. "But...but I'm...and now I'm..." Undead. ::He exhales:: You had a choice to return and never walk again among the humans or to extend your life on that world. You can never again gain nourishment here. * Kahlya frowns. "I don't come here for nourishment..." * Kahlya looks up at him. "I had to know, Landis. I had to. And it's not like I abandoned here. I, um, still have your gift. See?" She takes her scythe out and holds it in both hands, palms up towards him. * Landis nods. "I know, but this can no longer be your--" His eyes widen as he grabs it. "How did someone break Tear?!" He doesn't sound angry so much as amazed. * Kahlya speaks simply. "Not someone. Death. It shocked me just as much." * Landis turns the weapon around in his hands and it glows light blue. "Impudent. How did you punish this... Death." (.->?) * Kahlya answers again. "Death. How do you think I survived as undead?" Good. ::He nods, satisfied:: The repair work is excellent. I'm saddened by it, but the changes are necessary. But who is this Yvonne Nilsdtr that you have a blood oath against? ::He stares at tear quizically:: * Kahlya blinks. "Blood oath? I don't have a blood oath." [As he stares at Tear, light blue lettering appears on the handle near the break. Oddly, it doesn't register on your magic sense at all.] I had assumed... when this blade tastes her blood, it will focus all of your energy on her destruction. Crude perhaps but effective. * Kahlya rubs her head. "Classic. Someone was trying to sabotage the tourney, thinking I'd stay with it." Tourney? No matter. Shall I remove it? It is a powerful magic against her, but it would keep you in a rage until you drank her life-blood. * Kahlya shrugs. "I don't plan on fighting her any time soon. I'm out of all that." * Landis hands back the blade then. "If it doesn't taste her blood, it won't matter." [The lettering fades. Any unusual magic still doesn't register.] * Kahlya snickers. "The rage thing is new. I'm...not sure if I like it. It's better to have control." * Kahlya takes the blade back and looks down for a bit, then up at Landis. "You said that I couldn't get nourishment here. But...I'm still welcome, aren't I?" Trandel has already told the elders I'm sure. They will not be pleased. Sacrifices will be necessary to return. ::He smiles, fangs showing in abundence:: But I would be glad to see you. [Speaking of the devil, well, demon, Kahlya can hear Trandel leading some aggrevated elders to this room as the two of you speak. They're discussing banishment spells. You've got about a minute.] * Kahlya smiles. "Thanks." She then blinks. "You, uh, don't mean *literal* sacrifices, do you?" * Landis looks at Kahlya strangely. "I do. I'm sure you'll find something appropriate." * Kahlya makes a face. "The blood gets all sticky. That's why I didn't want the fangs anymore. I've got to be the weirdest not-vampire around." That's a pity though. I thought Trandel liked me. * Kahlya starts getting up. He might, but he's ambitious. The Elder's approval matters. ::Landis opens a window:: You can probably will yourself back [soul roll] but if that doesn't work, sneak around to the portal. * Kahlya nods. "Thanks." [Kahlya apparently forgot her ruby slippers. She fades a bit but while translucent is still very much here.] * Landis snickers. "Good luck." * Kahlya mutters. "Always at the worst time." * Kahlya nods and quickly tries to head towards the portal. [She gets back to the place she entered from. There are demons milling about. Only one seems to have noticed her, although he's telling his buddies.] * Kahlya takes a deep breath. "This isn't good." She goes for the exit as quickly and quietly as she can muster. [Soul roll, -4 bonus.] [The notified demons begin to race towards Kahlya to block her escape, but she continues to fade and their hands simply reach through her. A second later she emerges from the closet to see Mandy standing over an unconscious but healthly looking Elda.] [And we'll break here.]